Bonnie & Clyde

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Bonnie & Clyde

Action-Drama Film

111 Minutes

Released in 1967

Warren Beatty as CLYDE BARROW, Faye Dunaway as BONNIE PARKER, Michael J. Pollard as C.W. MOSS, Gene Hackman as BUCK BARROW (Clyde's older brother), Estelle Parsons as BLANCHE (wife of Buck)

Bonnie and Clyde begins with Bonnie Parker (Faye Dunaway) getting ready for her boring café job. Bonnie looks out the window to see a man (Warren Beatty) who is a recent ex-con stealing her mother’s car. The two have a strange connection right at the beginning. Clyde walks Bonnie into town and buys her a drink. While on the street Clyde flashes his gun and Bonnie dares him to use it. Clyde robs the town grocery store. As the couple runs to the get away car introductions and legends are made.

That night they sleep in an abandoned home. The next morning Clyde teaches Bonnie to shoot a gun. As the two practice, a farmer walks up. Clyde lets him take a couple of shots at the house because the bank took it from the farmer and his family. Eventually, Bonnie and Clyde attempt their first bank robbery. The bank they pick has no money in it. After the embarrassing incident the couple drive on to a gas station where they recruit C.W. Moss. C.W. knows a lot about cars and is a vital asset to the gang even though he’s not too bright.

The next day the gang pulls their first successful bank job. It almost back fires when C.W. parks the get away car. Due to that fact, Clyde has to shoot and kill a man. That night Clyde tells Bonnie she can leave if she wants but Bonnie stays. While the three outlaws hide out, Buck, (Gene Hackman) Clyde’s brother, and his wife Blanche (Estelle Parsons) join the gang as well. The group decides to go to Missouri where they have their first real home. It is very evident in this part of the film that Bonnie and Blanche will never agree or get along. That night, as Bonnie is reading her poetry, cops come and try to raid the house. After a major shoot out the gang escapes with Blanche screaming all the way.

The next day the gang is back on the road. They stop on the side of the road for a bathroom break. A Texas Ranger tries to sneak up on them but Clyde stops him. The gang does not kill the ranger, only take his picture. After Clyde takes care of the ranger the gang pulls another bank job and escapes to Oklahoma. The gang steals a car from a man named Eugene (Gene Wilder) and even picks up the enraged man and his girlfriend. They eventually are left at the side of the road when Bonnie discovers Eugene is an undertaker.

The next morning Bonnie tries to run away. Clyde finds her and convinces her that they will go and see Bonnie’s mother. The group meets up with Bonnie’s family only to discover that they had better keep running or they will be ratted out. Later that night C.W. and Blanche go and get chicken dinners. A man sees C.W.’s gun and calls the cops to their hotel. There is another shoot out. Buck gets shot in the stomach as he runs to the car and Blanche gets shot in the eye as the car is pulling away. The gang escapes to an open field where Buck lies in agony.

The next morning an ambush is waiting for the group. Bonnie and Clyde are wounded. Buck dies and Blanche is taken into custody. C.W. manages to get Bonnie and Clyde away and takes them to his dad’s house. C.W.’s dad is furious at his rebellious son and blames Bonnie and Clyde. He secretly plots against the couple.

C.W.’s father rats out Bonnie and Clyde and the Texas Ranger sets up an ambush for the couple as they come back from town. The last scenes are gruesome. Bonnie and Clyde are shot unmercifully, nothing but bullet holes are left of the legends.

Warner Brothers released Bonnie and Clyde in 1967, a time when America was in great turmoil. Kennedy had been assassinated a few years before, "flower power: was blooming, causing an entire generation to rebel from their baby boomer parents; the Vietnam War, and its protestors loomed in the background. Youths of the counter-culture movement of the 1960's seemed to identify with the film; they enjoyed the sympathetic and rebellious main characters. There was much controversy when Bonnie and Clyde first debuted. Many thought it glorified violence and was an "irresponsible mix of humor and murder." Director Arthur Penn, a World War II veteran and Kennedy supporter, was frustrated with the war occurring overseas. Some say he releases Bonnie and Clyde to "express his own discontent" on the way the nation was headed.

When released, Bonnie and Clyde was received with mixed reviews. While many thought it was another great contribution to the gangster era films Warner Brothers was known for, others thought the film’s uninhibited violence was simply distasteful. Bosley Crowther, of the New York Times, wrote three negative reviews of the film. He said, "this blending farce with brutal killings is as pointless as it is lacking in taste." Other publications like the American and Chicago’s Tribune also provided their own negative response to the film. Yet, despite newspaper critics and their negative reactions, Bonnie and Clyde gained critical acclaim. In fact, it was nominated for ten Academy Awards.

Bonnie and Clyde was also a springboard for many of the actors who appeared in the film. Warren Beatty and Arthur Penn cast the movie mostly with unknown actors. The film and the actors’ performance were so successful that all of the major participants went on to become big movie stars.

The film had completed its short, big screen career (it was out of the theatres by the fall of ’67), but its impact would not go away. Dunaway’s skirts and berets started a fashion craze. The bluegrass soundtrack, by Flatt and Scruggs soared to the Top Ten.

Bonnie and Clyde is also known for changing the motion picture world forever. Its new and innovative editing and cinematography techniques had a large impact on the industry. Critic Patrick Goldstein called it" the first modern American film." Even Roger Ebert said," when I saw it, I had been a film critic for less than six months, and it was the first masterpiece I had seen on the job. I felt exhilaration beyond describing. I did not suspect how long it would be between such experiences, but at least I learned that they were possible."

External Movie Reviews:

1968 Oscar: Best Cinematography

Best Supporting Actress – Estelle Parsons

1968 Bodil: Best American Film

1968 BAFTA: Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles –

Faye Dunaway and Michael J. Pollard

1967 NSFC: Best Screenplay

Best Supporting Actor – Gene Hackman

Bonnie Parker was married, too young, at age 16. Her husband wound up in the penitentiary a year later. For money, Bonnie was forced to become a waitress; a job she hated.

Clyde Chestnut Barrow, one of eight children, had been in trouble since his teen years. He and his brother Ivan, whom everyone called "Buck," committed many crimes, including theft and vandalism. When one burglary went bad, Buck was arrested and sentenced to prison for several years. Clyde escaped, but he did not change his ways.

Bonnie and Clyde met around Christmas, 1929. Bonnie was caring for the sister of one of Clyde’s girlfriends, who had broken her arm. Clyde came to visit, met Bonnie, and it was love at first sight. They began seeing each other.

After learning there were men looking for him, Clyde admitted to Bonnie that the police wanted him for past crimes. In February 1930, he was arrested. Convincing Bonnie to smuggle him a gun, Clyde escaped; he was recaptured shortly thereafter. He received a 14-year sentence but was released just 2 years later, after chopping off two of his toes with an ax. Clyde began seeing Bonnie immediately and their love affair intensified. Bonnie became an active participant in Clyde’s crimes.

Many members of the now called "Barrow Gang" came and went; only Bonnie and Clyde remained throughout the duration. In 1932, William Daniel Jones-D.W. as he was called, showed great interest in joining the gang. Though only 16, he was big and strong, and good with cars, so he was accepted into the gang.

In March 1933, Clyde’s brother Buck was released from prison. He immediately joined up with Clyde, bringing along his bride, Blanche. The gang was soon cornered in an apartment they had been hiding out in. After a shoot out, they escaped unscathed.

Bad times were soon to come. One day, while driving along, the group came across a chasm where the bridge had been removed for maintenance. Too late, Clyde braked. The car rolled, pinning Bonnie beneath it. One of her thighs was badly burned, and near her knee, the skin was severed exposing bone. The gang went into hiding to care for Bonnie, but moved on when able. Bonnie was half drugged most of the time.

They found shelter at a tourist camp in Missouri. Their rest was short lived and ended badly. A suspicious night clerk called the highway patrol. Police staked out the place. The display of gunfire was more that the gang was prepared for. They escaped, but with severe injuries. Buck was shot in the head, and Blanche was blinded. This was not the end, however; the next morning, they were ambushed while parked in a field. Only Bonnie and Clyde escaped. Buck died three days later, and Blanche received 10 years in prison. D.W., lost in the ruckus, made no attempt to find the gang. He was later arrested.

In 1934, new members were invited into the gang. One member, Henry Methvin, would be instrumental in Bonnie and Clyde’s demise. Henry’s father, Iverson, proposed a deal to the authorities for a reduced sentence for his son. Preparations were made for an ambush.

On May 23, 1934, the plan was set into motion. Iverson, feigning a stalled truck, lay in wait for Bonnie and Clyde to return to his home, where they had been staying. Iverson was not alone; several lawmen hid in the bushes, waiting to ambush the duo. They were not disappointed. Bonnie and Clyde came along, as predicted, and slowed down when they saw Iverson. The bullets began to fly riddling the car, as well as Bonnie and Clyde, with holes. This marked the end of their crime spree, and their lives.

Bonnie and Clyde romanticize the couple’s killing spree and do not portray history accurately, but the film was very successful. The film was nominated for ten Academy Awards and redefined the crime and gangster genre forever. When the film came out in 1967 it created wide controversy for its graphic display of violence and its historical inaccuracies. The cunning and witty directing by Arthur Penn (Little Big Man, Alice’s Restaurant) is what helped shape Bonnie and Clyde into one of the most memorable movies of our time. Penn’s use of character’s reaction shots in the last scene and the graphic convulsions of the gangster’s bodies create sympathy for the couple that killed eighteen people during their bank-robbing spree. The way Penn turned the sympathy to the "bad guys" is what truly makes this movie a memorable one.

For consideration:

The film was said to have "appealed to American youth", do you believe this to be the case? In what way would it have accomplished that?
The film also permanently changed the form and substance of popular film, for better or worse? Why?
What is the overall theme of the film, does it glamorize criminal behavior?
What does the cinematography do in the last scene, what does it help portray?
Bonnie and Clyde is one of the sixties’ most controversial crime/gangster films. Why do believe or disbelieve this statement?

Page by Joel Bisser, Michelle Esser, Lara Henderson, Rochelle Adams, and Jessica Bugni (H140, S2000)